secretary of state, hillary clinton, as well as the international media from the u.s. and russian side. we are told basically what's going to happen is the two leaders will come out. they are each going to sign about four documents that -- sign off on all of this. they are going to trade the papers back and forth so each side can sign it. then, each president is going to make a statement to the world and each take two questions from the u.s. media and russian media. you can bet there is going to be some pressing about how all of this is going to be verified to make sure each side follows through on it, kiran. >> we are coming up to the top of the hour if you are just joining us this morning. a special early edition of american morning. president obama is getting set to sign a pivotal treaty along with russian president, da me

tri medvedev. this is after the president promised to rid the world of nuclear weapons. what this starr treaty will do is reduce the number of strategic weapons and russia aside by about a third. we are waiting to have all of this happen. the president touched down earlier this morning. he met with czech president voklov claus. russia's president describing what is about to happen today as a very important step towards slashing u.s. and russian arsenals. this is what's happening right now. we have ed henry live in prague and here with me this morning, michael levy, the director of

program on energy and security for the center for foreign relations. the council on foreign relations, rather. he wrote a book on nuclearle terrori proliferation. how big of a deal is today's treaty? >> a modest step but an extremely difficult treaty. this is a year after the president's speech. that was not what he wanted. this was something that was going to be relatively straightforward. it turned out to be much more complicated and negotiations dragged on a long time. that means that success is particularly important. there were real barriers, real distrust and they had to work through that. that's important that they have succeeded. >> it is interesting when you talk about some of the background. you say the timing wasn't meant to take an entire year. what we have heard is that there was basically about 14 phone calls and meetings between our president and russia's president to hammer out some of the

framework of what you are going to see today during this signing ceremony. you are right. the last treaty ran out at the end of last year. the administration had been hopeful of getting it done by the beginning of this year. it took a little extra time. i'm told there were some, about 50, u.s. negotiators on the ground in geneva trying to hammer out these final details. it gives you an idea of the scope, the magnitude of all the detail. to pick up on what michael was saying, he is absolutely right. there was a lot of direct involvement by the u.s. and russia presidents. there was about 15 all together, ten phone calls, five one-on-one meetings over the last year and few months between these two leaders, trying to hammer out these details. just eight few weeks ago, we are told by the u.s. side. the russian side was suggesting maybe we should pull back a little bit. there were some things we still quite hammer out. the obama administration kept

pressing saying, let's give it another shot. we are going to have to see all the details. you'll remember from the reagan administration, trust but verify. both sides, they will make sure as they lay out these details. a lot of people will be looking closely at what is in this treaty. we have not seen all of the language. >> sure. there is definitely going to be a lot of scrutiny on the agreement, not so much on the pieces that we have been talking about on the reductions in arms. but on the missile defense part of things. i think that's where the negotiations got hung up. the russians wanted some limitations. the u.s. knew they didn't want the limitations. if they included them, they knew the treaty would be dead on arrival. the u.s. succeeded in keeping missile defense out of the legal part. there is an acknowledgment in the preamble, the beginning. it is not legal but it is written there is some

relationship between offensive and defensive weapons. when the administration takes the deal to congress, they are going to say, look, there is no legal obligation on our part to any limitations on missile defense and we are heading ahead in a row bust way. that was the fundamental hangup at the very end here. >> that is interesting what michael is bringing out. there were a few headlines that said russia has the right to opt out of this and some of it was touching on the really thorny issue of missile defense. what actually does this treaty say in terms of whether or not russia can opt out based on whether or not our missile defense is deemed a threat to them? >> well, each side can always opt out on their own. that's what u.s. officials have been stressing. as michael points out, it was important not to have missile defense in the actual legal framework. the russian side was able to put in a statement basically saying,

reairing their long opposition to the missile defense. the reason it is significant right here is that the czech republic would house some of the radar. the u.s. side is still insisting as the language is laid out it does not shut the door on having the u.s. missile defense system here. that is critical back in the u.s. senate as michael was suggesting. you have conservatives there, the republican votes that the president will need to ratify this and get this on a bipartisan basis. a lot of conservatives that would have been concerned if missile defense would have been pulled out because of u.s. disagreement. that would have lost some republican votes in the u.s. senate. instead, the u.s. is reserving the option to move forward. they keep insisting to the russian side side, this is not offensive against russia. that seeps to be russia's key concern. what the u.s. continues to stress is that they only want a defensive system here in the

czech republic and the region to protect our european allies against an attack from iran, not something that we want to use offensively against russia. that has been a key sticking point because russia has not completely believed that. >> we are 17 minutes behind schedule for the signing ceremony. are you getting any indication of whether or not this is just a couple of last-minute phone calls or if there is any type of delay for any other reason? >> reporter: welcome to white house signing ceremonies. these kind of things all around the world, whether it is back at the white house or somewhere else, there is always last-minute hiccups that i don't want to suggest a problem. the minor logistics of pulling all these leaders together. i have not gotten any indication there is any sort of a problem. it is typical they slide behind with the kind of guidance we get early on about the schedule. so far, we have not gotten any sense at all that there is a

problem, just normal scheduling, getting everybody together, the leaders have a chance to go behind closed doors. they haven't seen each other in some time. it gives them a chance to catch up before they face the media. >> it was funny earlier. this morning in the middle of the night, he was saying he was ahead of schedule. we are going to check back in were you, michael henry. thanks, ed, for your insight as well. we are going to head out to john roberts in west virginia where today we could get more news as the rescue attempts start up again this morning. hi, john. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. it looks like they are a little ways away from the signing ceremony. >> we are expecting a press conference in the next 20 minutes here at the marsh fork element stare school. if things went as scheduled, four teams of eight rescuers should be in the mile a little more than an hour and a half.

they have to get down five miles to where the miners are believed to be trapped. they have spent the last 18, almost 24 hours clearing the mine of toxic levels of methane. they have it down to a level where it is nonexplosive but not nondangerous. they hope to have some word if things can progreg and they don't run into unforeseen circumstances in the mine probably somewhere in the next couple of hours or so, we may know the fate of those four miners. it is such a tragedy that happened on monday afternoon, 25 lives taken. three of the lives were from the same family. last night, after a prayer vigil in a nearby town, i sat down with the mother, the aunt and the brother of three of those victims, all the same person, pam knapper. what is incredible is that her son, joshua, who had perished from the mine came up to visit her over easter weekend.

they went to church together. he wrote a letter to his fiancee suggesting that he had a sense of what was about to happen. >> what were your feelings when he came to you and said, mom i want to be a miner? >> at first i didn't want him to come. my brother was there. he has been hurt several times in the mines. i begged him not to but he said, please, mom. then, i said, okay, you are 25. i have to let you go. i have to let you make your own decisions in life. so i gave my brother my blessing. my brother had to have blessings from me first before he would hire him. i gave him my blessings. he come home that weekend and -- >> at easter? >> at easter. he wanted to come home and be with his family. he went to church with us and he kind of fought things in church.

he actually got up and left church and come back in and they called on us to bow or heads and whoever needed jesus in their lives, raise their arms and he did. for some reason, they called an altar call, which they don't do that all the days. josh just jumped up out of there and he went and got saved and really, really got saved. he grabbed my hand and he says, mom, i love you. i said, i love you too, josh. i always love you. i told him, don't less loose of god. he said, oh, mom, i'm not. i am going to hold on to god like i have never held on to him before. when he went home, he loaded up and went home and he left jennifer a letter. >> jennifer? >> his girlfriend, jenna. >> his daughter. yes. i can't tell you everything in it. i can't remember.

it was his long writing of his handwriting. he said, if anything happens to me, i'll be looking down from heaven at you all. i love you. take care of my baby. tell her that daddy loves her. she is beautiful. she is funny and just take care of my baby girl and said, jennifer, i love you. >> did he have have a sense about things? >> i really feel that he did. >> reporter: it's amazing to think that he had some sort of idea of what might happen. our apologies for having that little box over her face during the entire time she was talking about the death of her son. as you know, we are covering a live event that's about to take place in prague. i talked with pam about her son and her memories and the strength she showed last night was just really quite remarkable. the fact she lost three members of her family and she was able to come here, attend a prayer

vigil, speak at that prayer vigil and speak with us as well, just really speaks to the love she had for her son and the faith that she has, that he is in a good place now and that she can go on and she said to us, one day, i am going to be with him and that's what i am going to hang on to until such time as i do join him. those, kiran, are just some of the emotions that we are finding here in the wake of this mining disaster. >> just amazing what she was explaining about the church and how he walked out and then he came back in and seemed to have some sort of foreshadowing of what was about to happen. that's just unbelievable. >> reporter: the pastor said that he usually doesn't do what's termed an altar call, where he invites people to come down and give their lives to jesus and to god but the pastor said, he felt something in the church that day as well. here is another thing we are going to learn from pam a little later on is that a couple of

times. her son had only worked in the mine for eight weeks and a couple of times in the last couple of weekse, he was sent home early because of ventilation problems in the mine. i am not sure what the source of the ventilation problems were but a couple of times over the last couple of weeks, he was sent home for ventilation problems. that is going to be the major focus of this investigation as to how this tragedy occurred, kiran. >> john, thanks so much. 15 minutes from now, we are going to get another update on what is going on there in terms of the rescue operation, in terms of what they have been able to assess, in terms of the safety of allowing the rescuers to go back in and look for the four miners still missing. that's a live press conference taking place at 6:30 eastern. new details that some of toyotas employees are not happy about how the auto giant handled safety concerns about the faulty

gas pedals. the call from one executive came back in january five days before a huge recall. his message was clear. we need to come clean. our deb feyerick is tracking the developments for us this morning. she joins us now. so this was an executive that said, we need to make changes? >> those words, we have to come clean gets a lot of attention. it is clear that toyota executives were scrambling to find out the best way to deal with their huge accelerator problems. one of the company's top public relations executives warned toyota, we need to come clean about the sticking pedals. they are saying that toyota was not protecting their customers by keeping quiet about this. in the e-mail by toyota's recently retired u.s. vice president for affairs, herb miller writes, we have a tendency for mechanical failure

in accelerator problems. the time to hide is over. it was sent in january, days before the massive recall. toyota had failed to alert u.s. regulators even though the automaker was already busy addressing the sticky pedestrian tall problem in other countries and canada for about three months. he spoke about the disconnect between the u.s. and other countries a week ago at the inauguration of toyota's committee for global quality. >> because we are not perfect, we didn't share the experience we had in europe. we didn't know about it in north american. that's where we are putting these processes in place. we are looking for weak points, where we need to improve. that's why i believe the six points that toyoda has put upon

us, his direction, is going to make us a stronger and better company. we have never said we were perfect. >> there is a broad effort to make sure that both companies in japan, in the u.s., those in europe are really talking together. if you have a problem in one group of cars, the chances are you may have a similar problem in another group. cnn did try to reach the author of the e-mail. the e-mail in the possession of u.s. investigators. the january e-mail hopeful that u.s. government regulators would work with toyota to find a workable solution that does not put toyota out of business. kiran? >> all right. and so it continues. thanks so much, deb. >> of course. a story new this morning, a 48-year-old san francisco man arrested for making threatening and harassing phone calls to house speaker, nancy pelosi. the new law brought in a series of recent threats to lawmakers. a man in washington state was arrested tuesday for threatening to kill patty murray and a

pennsylvania man charged for posing threats against a top house republicans on youtube. a merger seems to be on the way between united and us airways. a deal fell through two years ago. while there is no concrete merger plan. the associate press reports it will be modeled after the delta/northwest merger. passengers flying the budget airline out of europe, ryan air, may soon have to pay to use the restroom. they are working with boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, a passenger would have to pay a pound or $1.50 for use offer it. we are still monitoring the prague castle where at any moment now, our president as well as russia's president will come out for a signing ceremony

to reduce the nuclear arsenal. we are going to check in with rob marciano in extreme weather. breaking records all over the place yesterday. 90 or 92 degrees in central park? >> 92 in central park. for a lot of those numbers where people broke records, it's the earliest they have seen temperatures like that. boston, to see 90 degrees this early, they have never seen that. steamy. cooler weather on the way. you are going to have to deal with potentially severe weather before that. 70 in washington. look at chicago. 35. stark differences in temperatures. obviously, there is a cold front there, some rough weather across the appalachians and pushing into the eastern seaboard. severe weather will be a threat up and down the front and later tonight. if you are traveling today, atlanta thunderstorms and wind, especially around noontime, so that will delay that major hub. chicago will see colder air.

80, high temperature today. a bit of a cooldown. chicago, 44. if you are traveling there, certainly pack not the summer gear for sure. 62, kansas city. 60 degrees, expected in denver. the first round of the masters, kiran. they may see a little bit of delay or suspension of play as the front moves through. the rest of the weekend looks good. potential for snow, believe it or not, after record-breaking temperatures across parts of the midwest. >> that's really unbelievable. rob, keeping you guys on your toes, that's for sure. thanks, rob. we want to update you on a couple of breaking stories we are following this morning. one is the nuclear treaty signing that's going to be taking place in prague in the czech republic any moment now. it was set to get underway 20, 30 minutes ago. in about ten minutes, we are set to get an update on the situation at the west virginia mine right there, on what is

going on there and when they will be able to again put four different rescue teams in to try to locate four miners still missing in the wake of the tragedy that took place over the weekend. meanwhile, michael levee with the council on foreign relations joins us again to talk a little bit more about the significance of what is happening today, this pledge on the part of the two nuclear powers left, the two super powers. russia and the united states to reduce their nuclear arsenal over the next decade. what are we going to see happen today at this signing ceremony. >> we will see the two presidents appear. they will sign multiple documents. there is the treaty. there are also annexes to it, technical annexes, several layers of detail. those will be sent on for everyone to look at and scrutinize. they will hold a press conference where they will each answer a couple of questions. >> in terms of what happens after this treaty is signed, of

course, it still needs to be ratified by our senate and russia's legislature as well. where does it leave the world when it comes to the reduction of nuclear weapons? also, trying to find a way to minimize and eliminate other nuclear threats around the world? >> it continues a trend that's been happening since the end of the cold war towards reducing a arsenals and having transparency. the verification last year, the rules for making sure each side was living up to its obligations, expired. a long with that, a lot of transparency went away. the rest of the world couldn't see what was happening with the arsenals. this, along with the reductions, also maintains openness towards the rest of the world about what is happening. this should help build some soe support for the president's broader proliferation goals.

iran comes down to the security situation, the domestic situation there. north korea is a dricountry ver worried about what's going on in its neighborhood. other countries are making calculations based on their own national interest. this helps the president, particularly in the context of this push this week and next on nuclear issues. this isn't happening in isolation. you have the nuclear posture of you laying out u.s./nuclear strategy. the main goal is to deal with proliferation and terrorism. you will have a nuclear security summit next week with ruffoughl0 heads of state in washington. his goal is in the next four years, that's quite challenging. even if you did it in, let's say, six years, it would be an extraordinary accomplishment. he is trying to get momentum and

focus. he cares personally about the nuclear issue and has a different approach in some ways to dealing with it from the previous administration. >> when you say there is a different approach, there have been many analysts that have talked to us about the biggest threat being states that are willing to either sell nuclear secrets or help states gather nuclear materials or the components needed to perhaps make a nuclear weapon. how does this address the issue in and the threat of rogue states in nuclear terrorism. >> this doesn't directly address that. the primarily tools for that will be direct. they will be direct pressure. they will be building a broad strong nonproliferation regime. what this does, the president hopes, is build confidence and trust between the united states and russia so they can work together to deal with some of the problems. they are the biggest potential sources of material. so they need to work together on that.

they are big players in the u.n. security council. the president hopes this will satisfy some folks in the developing world who have been calling for more transparent reductions and that they may be encouraged to take other steps in exchange. beyond these two weeks, we have a big nonproliferation treaty review conference coming up next month. every five years, the world gets together to review it which obligates states that don't have nuclear weapons to continue to refrain from having nuclear weapons but says that powers like the united states and russia should continue to disarm. the united states and russia would like to be able to go to that conference with this in hand and say, we are keeping up our part of the bargain. we want you to keep up your part of the bargain and stop other states from acquiring nuclear arms. >> michael, thank you very much. we have ed henry, our senior white house correspondent, there in the czech republic awaiting

the ceremony. we are about 20 minutes shy of being an hour behind schedule. what's the latest, ed? >> reporter: well, it looks like there has been some movement in the room and perhaps, kiran, it is going to get started pretty soon. we have been looking and reading the tea leaves for nearly an hour. these things have a tendency to not start on time. we do expect it to get going finally in the next few minutes, kiran. >> when we talk about the broader goals of this and we talked about resetting relations with the united states and russia, how critical will this event that's taking place today and the agreement that comes out of this be for both nations? >> reporter: we don't know for sure. you talk about that reset button it has not gone as smoothly as the obama administration had hoped. there has been bumps in the roads largely on missile defense. other issues as well.

they hope this will be a moment of trust between both sides i was talking to one of the president's most senior advisers late last night e was saying, look, it has been many, many years since you have had u.s. and russian leaders sitting down with a picture like this, getting together, coming to such a large agreement. there still are disagreements. there still are other big issues that they hope to gain tracks on. as you mentioned, like sanctions against iran. they hope this is an important step forward. >> ed, stay with us. we just got the five-minute warning a couple of moments ago. we are going to take a quick break and hopefully, we will be able to bring you the signing ceremony taking place live. 27 minutes past the hour right now. the naturals brand dermatologists trust most. delightfully fragrant, truly moisturizing. that's positively nourishing. only from aveeno.

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good morning. welcome to a special edition of "american morning." what you are seeing is a live look at prague in the czech republic where the united states president, our president, barack obama, as well as russia's president, dimitry medvedev, they are signing a nuclear weapons reduction treaty, the starr treaty. they are going to be signing that. a few minutes after, they are going to be taking some questions, holding a brief press conference. a couple questions from the american media and the russian media. as you can see, there are a ton of cameras assembled there. our ed henry is sitting outside. he is going to be weighing in after we get a look at the signing ceremony. we are also awaiting a news conference in west virginia where we are going to get an update on the situation as the rescue efforts continue for four miners still missing after the explosion that cost the lives of

25 others. we are going to be hearing more about the rescue crews gearing up to go more than 1,000 feet below the earth to find possible survivors. again, there are many who say they don't expect to find the miners alive. they are not giving up hope that they are going to be able to do it after being able to ventilate some of the carbon monoxide and hydrogen and methane gas blamed for that explosion. we see a brief look at that. there is government on the left-hand side. getting ready for an update. let's bring in ed henry in prague as we await the signing ceremony on this nuclear agreement. good morning, ed. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. you are absolutely right. one year ago this week right here in prague where the president delivered what was billed as a major foreign policy address, what he was laying out a long-term vision of a nuclear free world. that was one of several factors that led to the president being

award the nobel peace prize. a flurry of critics saying he didn't deserve that prize. i can tell you from talking to the president's senior advisers here in prague. they see this as a sweet victory. not only as an accomplishment but that it came through because of his direct intervention. some ten phone calls, five one-on-one meetings over the last year or so with the russian president, dimitry medvedev. it took president obama's intervention to bring this along. in terms of long-range missiles, warheads, this would reduce it down to about 1500 each. it would reduce the number of launchers down to about 800 on each side, the launchers to launch those missiles. that still leaves both sides with very large arsenals. let's keep in mind that this does not wipe out nuclear

weapons on both the u.s. and russian sides. what u.s. officials believe is that this could be an important step forward to show some good faith that they are making reductions as they move towards the vision the president laid out one year ago here in prague. >> we just heard the music start. we see president barack obama as well as russia's president, dimitry medvedev. they are walking up to the podium right now, the two chairs behind them for the signing ceremony. a couple moments ago, we saw czech president voklov kl auchlt s be seated. >> our president obama. >> translator: president barack obama and president medvedev are signing the treaty for the reduction and limitation of strategic and offensive arms.

>> president medvedev, president obama, in america. [ speaking in russian ] . . the president of the united states of america, barack obama, and the president of the russian federation, dimitry medvedev are signing the treaty between the united states of america and the russian federation on measures for the further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms.

if you are just joining us right now, you are looking at president barack obama and

president dimitry medvedev. an agreement to shrink the arsenal to about 1500 warheads. that would allow for the mutual destruction several times over. it is sending a signal to the world about nonproliferation. it is no accident this is taking place in prague where a year ago he gave a speech about eventually hoping to rid the world of nuclear weapons. we are seeing a part of that in action right now with this agreement that as michael levee from the council on foreign relations has been talking to us about. it hasn't been easy to come by. ed henry told us, ten phone calls, five face-to-face meetings to get to some agreement. what were the biggest hang ups to come to this day? >> it has been extremely difficult. the biggest hangup has been on missile defense.

the russians wanted limits. the united states didn't. the u.s. prevailed on that. there have been questions on verifications and transparency. the russians in particular are very hesitant at allowing substantial access from the outside to verify what they are doing. there were also concerns about u.s. conventional weapons as you go to substantially lower levels, the russians get worried that u.s. can put their art arsenal in danger. the reduction , real, but important. it is still modest. >> ed, one of the people you see clapping in the front was the czech president as well? you see these hand shakes taking place. i believe this is when they are going to make some statements and answer some questions. right, ed? >> reporter: we are going to see each president make a statement about this history in the making

and then they will take two questions each. i am honored to be back here in the czech republic with president medvedev and our czech hosts to mark this historic completion of the new starr treaty. let me begin by saying how happy i am to be back in the beautiful city of prague. the czech republic is a close friend and ally of the united states. i have great admiration and affection for the czech people. their bonds with the american people are deep and enduring. czechs have made great contributions to the united states over many decades, including in my hometown of chicago. i want to thank the president and all those involved in helping to host this extraordinary event. i want to thank my friend and

partner, dimitry medvedev. without his personal efforts and strong leadership, we would not be here today. we have met and spoken by phone many times throughout the negotiations of this treaty and as a consequence, we have developed a very effective working relationship built on candor, cooperation and mutual respect. one year ago this week, i came here to prague and gave a speech outlining america's comprehensive commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking the ultimate goal of a world without them. i said then and i'll repeat now that this is a long-term goal, one that may not even be achieved in my lifetime but i believed then as i do now the pursuit of that goal will move us further beyond the cold war, strengthen the global nonproliferation regime and make the united states and the world

safer and more secure. one of the steps that i called for last year was the realization of this treaty. so it is very gratifying to be back in prague today. i also came to office committed to resetting relation it's between the united states and russia. i know that president medvedev shared that commitment. as he said at our first meeting in london, our relationship had started to drift making it difficult to cooperate on issues of common interest. when the united states and russia are not able to work together on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations, nor is it good for the world. together, we have stopped that drift and proven the benefits of cooperation. today is an important milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation and for u.s./russia relations. it fulfills our common objective to negotiate a new strategic

arms reduction treaty. it includes significant reductions in the nuclear weapons that we will deploy. it cuts our delivery vehicles by roughly half. it includes a comprehensive verification regime, which allows us to further build trust and enables both sides the flexibility to protect our security as well as america's unwavering commitment to our european allies. i look forward to working with the united states senate to achieve ratification for this important treaty later this year. finally, this day demonstrates the determination of the united states and russia, the two nations that hold over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, to pursue responsible global leadership. together, we are keeping our commitments under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty which must be the foundation for global nonproliferation. while the new starr treaty is an important first step forward, it is just one step on a longer

journey. as i said last year in prague, this treaty will set the stage for further cuts. going forward, we hope to pursue discussions with russia on reducing both our strategic and tactical weapons, including nondeployed weapons. president medvedev and i have agreed to expand our discussions on missile defense. this will include regular exchange of information about our threat assessments as well as the completion of a joint assessment of emerging ballistic missiles. as these are completed i look forward to launching a serious dialogue about russian/american cooperation on missile defense. nug n nuclear weapons are not just an issue for the united states or russia. a nuclear weapon in the hands of a chriterrorist is danger to pe everywhere, from moscow to new york to the cities of europe to south asia. next week, 47 nations will come

together in washington to discuss concrete steps that can be taken to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years and the spread of nuclear weapons to more states is also an unacceptable risk to global security raising the arms races from the middle east to east asia. earlier this week, the united states changed our policy that those nuclear weapons states that are in compliance with the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and their nonproliferation obligations will not be threatened by america's nuclear arsenal. this demonstrates once more america's commitment to the mpt as a corner stone of our security strategy. those nations that follow the rules will find greater security and opportunity. those nations that refuse to meet their obl gaigations will

denied. the united states and russia are part of a coalition of nations insisting that the islamic republic of iran face consequences, because they have continually failed to meet their obligations. we are working together as the united nations security council to pass strong sanctions on iran wech we will not tolerate actions that flaut the mpt and threaten the credibility of the international community and our collective security. while these issues are a top priority, they are only one part of the u.s./russia relationship. today, i expression my deepest condolences for the terrible loss of russian life in recent terrorist attacks. we will remain steadfast partners in combatting violent

extremism. we discussed the potential to expand our cooperation on behalf of economic growth, trade and investment as well as technological innovation. i look forward to discussing these issues further when president medvedev visits the united states later this year. because there is much we can do on behalf of our security and prosperity if we continue to work together. when one surveys the many challenges that we face around the world, it is easy to grow complacent or abandon the notion that progress can be shared. i want to repeat what i said last year in prague, when nations and peoples allow themselves to be defined by their differences, the gulf between them widens. when we fail to pursue peace, then it stays forever beyond our gra grasp. this magesitc city of prague is a monument to human process and

that old adversaries can forge new partnership. i could not help but be struck the other day by the words of arcadedy brish who helped bit the soviet union's first adam bomb at the age of 92 having lived to see the horrors of a world war and a cold war, he said, we hope humanity will reach the moment when there is no need for nuclear weapons, when there is peace and calm in the world. it is easy to dismiss those voices but doing so risks repeating the horrors of the past. while ignoring the history of human progress. pursuit of peace and calm and cooperation among nations is the work of both leaders and peoples in the 21st century. for we must be as persistent and passionate in our pursuit of progress as any who would stand in our way. once again, president medvedev, thank you for your extraordinary

leadership. [ applause ] >> we just finished hearing from u.s. president, barack obama, after the signing of this treaty that will bring us closer perhaps to a weapons-free world. many are calling this pivotal and reduce the strategic nuclear arsenal by about a third. right now, the united states and russia have 95% of the world's arsenal. this is serving as a message to other countries about the commit to nonproliferation by the united states and russia. ed henrys there in prague in the czech republic where all of this went down a year after the president spoke about his dream of a nuclear free world. how big of a win is this, that he was able to get movement despite a lot of roadblocks on getting this treaty signed with

russia? >> reporter: well, i can tell you what the president, senior advisers have been telling me, it shows through a lot of hard work and direct involvement with the russian counterpart, this president was able to get it done despite a lot of critics saying he has had very few foreign policy accomplishments. there were two points that struck me. he hopes this is the impa it is to launch a serious dialogue with russia on their broader relations. we have been talking about, can this search as a spark in what the obama administration has said that they want a reset in u.s./russian relations. we have not seen that broader dialogue occur. maybe now it will. certainly, what the u.s. hopes would be one big accomplishment out of all of this would be getting russian cooperation for serious u.n. sanctions against

iran and its nuclear ambitions. that's something that we will be watching very closely. i was struck by the president saying, this was one step in a longer journey. what he is referring to in part is that next week in washington, there will be a vast nuclear sup mi summit chaired by the u.s. to get more nations to step forward and reduce nuclear arsenals. >> thanks so much. i want to bring in michael levee one last time as we wrap this up. what's the next step for the united states in terms of this -- in terms of nuclear nonproliferation and where do these steps go? >> the next steps occur on a variety of fronts f there will be directly coming out of this treaty, a battle for ratification in the u.s. senate, a nuclear security summit next week looking at ways to secure weapons and materials, a debate at the security council over sanctions in iran and what sort

of sanctions might be applied. next month where people look at the future of that, now decades old agreement. the u.s. l/russian file which wl go forward. >> we thank you for your insight this morning today on this story as well. >> my pleasure. >> wh when we come back, we will get an update on the rescue attempts for the four miners still in the upper big branch mine. 50 minutes past the hour. we will take a quick break. we'll be right back. -d-d-d-d-d-d

back now with live special coverage of the mine disaster in west virginia. the governor just held a press conference to tell us where they are at least in terms of the rescue operation. rescue teams did enter the mine shortly after 4:30. they are about a mile, mile and a half into the mine. they are riding in on the so-called man trips. when they get to a junction that is closer to where the explosion took place, they won't be able to go further on vehicles. they will have to get off and ho hoof it the rest of the way. so far, the governor says they are making good progress in getting to the area where the four missing miners may be. they are in two separate areas, 2000 feet apart or so. it is going to take a little while for them to get some word back. we may know within the next couple of hours or so what the

fate of those miners is. all up and down this area here, this valley, that these coal mines are in and really across the state of west virginia and other coal mining states, people are wondering what the outcome of this is going to be in terms of legislation and new safety measures. we took a look that the and talked with a lot of folks who come from mining family toss see what they have to say about it. >> 1951, the orient, number two mine, 119 deaths prompt the first legislation on mine safety. fast forward, 1968, farmington, west virginia, 78 dead, including future governor joe manchin's uncle. mandatory fines are implemented and criminal penalties. jump to 2006, the sago disaster, 12 killed. cries prompt another new law, the miner act. >> it is unfortunate that every mine safety law we have on the

books today has been written with the blood of our coal miners. >> reporter: what's most unfortunate, none of the laws on the books prevented what happened this week, the worst mining disaster in a quarter century. >> we are going to find answers. you know what, if it takes legislation, i'll do it tomorrow and i will guarantee the legislature in west virginia will step to the plate, not democrats or republicans. >> reporter: governor, if you pass that lenltgislation, will guarantee there won't be another accident that is worse? >> i don't think there is any guarantee. we can make sure we take all of the variables out. >> reporter: up and down the coal river valley, prayers for the four men still miss nth upper big branch mine. plenty of anger too. does it frustrate you that regardless of the number of lives lost, the number of rule thars written, the number of laws that are passed, it keeps

happening? >> honestly, it pisses me off. >> her father is a veteran of the mine. he has been disabled for 40 years. >> the only thing different from the time my dad was crushed to now, when my dad was in the mines, he had fence posts that held up the mines. we have got high tech dollar stuff now but it is not safe. >> reporter: not safe, an ae anxiety shared by so many. >> when my son wanted to go in the mines, i begged him not to. i was afraid. i knew i had to worry over my husband. that's hard enough. then, having to worry over him also is a different kind of worry. >> reporter: they both know with a small twist of fate, they could be the wives and mothers

suffering so much grief and they are willing to accept that. >> this doesn't only happen to the coal mining industry. there is a risk on your job. there is risk everywhere. our families are willing to take the risk. >> reporter: they have faith that every law spun out of these disasters will help to make their loved ones safer. as history that is proven, the best of intentions are never 100%. >> i just think it is never going to be perfect. there is always going to be something that you have to expect that may happen. >> a sense of resignation that regardless of the number of laws that are written about this, the inevitable probably will happen. that will be an accident. coming up at the top of the hour, we are going to introduce you to pam napper. she lost her son, her nephew and her brother in the mining accident. wait until you hear what happened with her son just a few days before the mine explosion. kiran?

>> a little bit later, we are also going to be speaking about the whole notions of these mono economies where if it wasn't for coal mining, what would the lively hood of the people living in the town be? what that means moving ahead when there is not going to be as much coal to mine anymore. we are going to take a quick break. your top stories coming your way. it's two minutes until the top of the hour. including a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. that's 40,000 more miles than ford. chevy silverado half-ton. a consumers digest best buy and the most dependable, longest lasting full-size pickups on the road. get 0% apr for 60 months on 2010 silverado half-ton models with an average finance savings around fifty four hundred dollars. "get down, get down, get down!" that's the type of ied that earned me a purple heart

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after a two-day pause, the rescue is back on trying to find the missing four miners. i'm john roberts with our special continuing coverage. good morning. good morning, kiran. >> good morning, john. give us an update on what you were -- what they told you in this last press conference that took place about 30 minutes ago? >> governor joe manchin updated us a little while ago. he had told us that he expected the rescue crews were probably going to enter the mine about 4:30 eastern time. it appears that they did shortly after that. they have made their way, the

best estimates are, about a mile and a half, two miles into the mine. they are travel willing by vehicles. they can't take those all the way in. they will probably go another mile, mile and a quarter on that. you are taking a look at the entrance they went in through. they have to take all their gear off the vehicle and walk the rest of the way in, another couple of miles. it's believed that the four miners who are missing are accept par ra separated. one is working along the long wall of coal and the other three were working in a new development area which was about 2000 feet away. it is going to take some time for them to get to the first part, which is the long wall and then even longer to get to that area, the development area, where the other three miners are trapped. there are four teams that have got in. eight rescuers a piece. we are hoping sometime in the next couple of hours, kiran, we will have a firm update on the fate of those four miners. make sure if you are watching at

home you stay right here. we will have the latest information for you. kiran. >> the bottom line is, it is just a matter of a slim hope of whether they made it to one of the rescue chambers. we will know more. also, new developments in another big story we are following. a security scare on board a united airlines flight, flight 663, taking off from washington, d.c. landing in denver, about 3.5 hours later with a fighter jet escort. f-16s were scrambled after reports that a passenger, a diplomate, from gutter, said he was trying to light his shoes on fire. now, it appears the incident was a misunderstanding. jeanne meserve is live at denver international airport. we are learning more about what exactly happened. >> reporter: right. it was a scary couple of hours. all the alarms were going off. in the end, it did turn out to be a false alarm.

a diplomate from the embassy of cutter was on board that aircraft. he was taken into custody. he may have been smoking in the restroom of that aircraft. he came back to his seat. several passengers and other people noticed the odor. he was questioned. he made an unfortunate remark which alluded to his shoes and led them to believe that they might be dealing with another shoe bomber. those f-16s were launched. they escorted the aircraft here to denver. in the end, no explosives were found on board. they did go through that boeing 757 with a fine tooth comb, came up with nothing. they talked to the 157 passengers and the six crew. all of that took four or five hours. we talked so some of the passengers as they came off. it was surprising to hear home of them had absolutely no idea

that anything alarming was happening on board that flight until it was on the ground. many of them had high praise for the crew and air marshalls. here is a bit of what one of them had to say. >> they spent some time in the upper galley talking to the guy and sent him back down. you couldn't tell it was an incident until the very end when they put the plane in isolation. then it became clear something really big was going on. >> reporter: now, the embassy of qatar, the ambassador did put out a statement saying we expect special security precautions. this diplomate was traveling to denver on official embassy business on my instructions. he was not engaged in any threatening activities. the facts will show this was a mistake. avoid reckless judgments and speculation. clearly, this individual would

not be charged with anything terrorism related, unclear if he might face some other kind of charges. he is a diplomate, he would have immunity. president barack obama was briefed about this situation and secretary janet napolitano postponed a trip she is taking to spain to get more updates. >> jeanne meserve, thank you. there is new anger aimed at virginia's governor, bob mcdonald. he declared april con federal history month. there was no mention of the word slavery. the governor has apologized. that has not stopped the controversy. our kate bolduan is live on this story. hi, kate. >> the governor's proclamations often aren't even noticed. he is apologizing for something he didn't include.

virginia, known for its civil war battlefields, its capital was the capital of the con fed ras sichlt now, a new battle over that legacy. bob mcdonnel has declared able con federal history month to understand the sacrifices of the con federal leaders, soldiers and citizens. >> i thought that having people look at history, learning from the mistakes of the history but understanding virginia's role in the battle fields, et cetera, would be helpful for economic development. so that's why i signed it. >> reporter: the governor is now apologizing for what he calls a major omission, failing to make any mention of slavery and is amending the proclamation to include it. civil rights advocates had accused the governor of trying to whitewash history. >> not taking a second to acknowledge that the civil war, the main purpose, the main

reason for that fire that burned across this country was the south's refusal to let go of slavery, which is a deep and abiding crime against humanity, does suggest that he lacks courage. >> reporter: for better or worse, virginia is steeped in con federal history. monuments like this one can be found throughout the state. governor mcdonnell in the proclamation said the move was meant to boost tourism. the governor said he issued td proclamation at the request of the group sons of confederate veterans. they say the outcry is politically motivated. >> what the governor is trying to do is educate people. the people complaining refuse to look at anything. they are one-sided. they need -- they are the people that need confederate history education more than anybody. >> reporter: earlier, mcdonnell

gave this explanation for leaving it out. slavery was a vile and horrific practice that i am delighted was wiped off the face of this country. i didn't mention it solely because i was trying to keep the focus on the war aspects of it. >> the governor says he is now adding language to the proclamation to include saying, quote, it is important for all virginiaians to understand that the institution of slavery led to the civil war and was an evil and unhumane practice, kiran. >> could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he would have said that in the proclamation. >> not something that any pol significance wants to have to do, come out with a public apology. >> we want to know what you think about this. our live blog up and running right now. cnn.com/am fix. we are going to head back to west vary va west virginia. >> reporter: it could be a big day in terms of developments in

the mining disaster with rescue crews back on their way. at the same time, the mining community is really getting together to support the family members of the miners who perished in monday afternoon's blast. last night, there was a prayer vigil about an hour away from here. so many, many people attended. one of the people who they were really rallying around is pam napper. she was extraordinarily touched by this disaster. three members of her family, her son, her brother, and her nephew, were all killed in that mine. what's so incredible about it is that the day before, easter sunday, when her son came to visit her in ohio, he seemed to have something of a premonition that was about to happen. he had written a letter to his fiancee saying, if i die i just want to let you know, i'm going to be okay. a couple of weeks prior to the accident, a couple of things

happened when he was working the mine. he had only been working it for eight weeks, which struck his mother as being very odd and somewhat indicative that perhaps there were some serious problems with the mine. let's listen to pam napper tell it. >> i was just sitting on the coach that morning, monday. i just felt in my heart and my stomach that something was definitely wrong. >> there were a couple of incidents at the mine where he was sent home? >> yes. >> what happened? >> he got to come home early last week. i can't remember exactly what day it was. he calls me every day when he gets off of work. i said, what did you call snee it's just 3:30. what are you calling me for? you are supposed to be working. he said, mom, bad ventlele lation in the mines. >> bad ventilation in the mines? >> yes. they sent us home early. i think happened again, the best i can remember, and i know they have worked up in some water and

things. but i just feel in my heart, because this was last week when josh said, bad ventilation, i just think he knew what was going to happen. >> so there were a couple of times where there was bad ventilation? >> sent him home early. >> not enough oxygen, buildup of gas, whatever it might have been. >> they sent the whole crew home. >> what was your response when you heard that? >> it scared me. i have been raised all my life with coal mines. we never heard of explosions and things like this that are going on in the mines now. >> do you have any questions for the operators of the mines? >> no, no. i just know there were things there that wasn't right. but i know my brother would never endanger my son or his brother or his own son there.

i think it was just a freak accident. i think something just happened. i don't really know. i don't know if someone didn't do their job testing. you know, you can't smell it. you can't taste it. i think when they shift. the next shift, josh and them was getting ready to come out. when they changed shifts, the spark off of that wheel just blew it. >> is it just one of those things that when you are in a coal mining family, you have to deal with? >> you just deal with it. i have been in a coal miner family all my life. we've lost -- this is not the only one. we have lost younger ones too, different uncles and that. it's just something that west virginia is all about. it's their living. that's how they make a living. it is just west virginia. then, something bad happens. we come together.

>> reporter: when her son came to her a few months ago to say he wanted to take on a job as a coal miner, she literally begged him to not do it. her brother, who also perished in the mine was the one going to sign him on. she said, i have to have your blessing. she said, if that's really what he wants to do, he has my blessing. >> it is heartbreaking to think about it now. john, thanks so much for the update. we will be checking in with you in a couple of minutes. 13 minutes after the hour. time to get a check of the morning's weather headlines. rob has the latest. >> check out some numbers from yesterday. unbelievable record highs. 93, hartford, connecticut. new york city, central park, 92. dulles international, second day on the road, they set a record, 91. augusta, georgia, 91 degrees

there. sizzling. things will change a little bit today. temperatures very mild this morning, of course, along the i-95 corridor. look at chicago. a 30-degree temperature as the front comes through tonight. you will see severe weather. 80 for the high today. temperatures will drop rapidly as the cooler air comes through. much more weather details in about 30 minutes. we seal that. >> talk about extremes. from 92 to 30 in a day. >> stay cool. >> i'll try. thanks, rob. >> a nuclear arms reduction deal with russia is now a reality. after the break, we are going to take you live to prague to break down the importance of today's landmark treaty. also, five days before a massive recall, toyota, warned by one of its own to come clean about the problems with faulty gas pedals. at 7:24, our deb fay rieyerick be here. nike's new ad, is it a taste

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u.s. and russian relations. the big one in the immediate future trying to get russia to come along and support tough u.n. sanctions. that's the big one the u.s. is

pushing for. >> ed henry this morning in prague. thank you. we are going to head back to john in west virginia right now with the governor of west virginia. hey, john. >> reporter: the west virginia governor, joe manchin joins us right now. tell us a little bit about where we are. >> at five until 5:00, we sent four teams in. they are on man trips right now, will go back as far on the rail as we can possibly go. then, they go by foot and carry all their apparatus. they will be more cautious. you never want your rescuers to get ahead of the danger zone and get caught. that's happened in alabama, we lost so many rescuers. we will make sure that doesn't happen. they will be able to assess the damage more accurately than the first time. they are in full rescue mode. that means we are going to go find the four miners. if for any reason we can't get clear back in that 22 section again, where they had to be pulled out before, that's the only chance we have with that

one chamber that hasn't been checked. if someone is there, we know they are safe. if they are not, we know our chances are slim. >> the sign they will be looking for immediately is to see if one of the rescue chambers was deployed deployed? >> yes. to get back. they have checked the other ones. they haven't been deployed. we just don't know. all the families, i spoke to them. here is the families wishes. if you go back in and they understand you are totally rescue, that means you are going to be working past the miners that we know where they are and go back there and try to find, because we might be able to save somebody. >> this is the deceased miners? >> the families' wishes are this. i had to ask the question, because we haven't talked about it. if we get back and we can't continue the rescue operation because the air is still so bad that we temporarily put it up to keep the air segregated from the better air that we have and start into a recovery. >> that means to bring the other

bodies back out? talking to a lot of these families, they do want to know the fate of their loved ones. >> they want their loved ones out. we are going to do that. the only thing that would stop us from that is if the conditions were where everybody comes out immediately. >> if the rescue teams get back there and they find that none of the rescue chambers have been deployed, that will be a pretty strong signal? >> we know our chances are very, very, very, very slim because of the lethal gases that we have. we know it is very bleak at that time but these are such strong, resilient people. they understand, the second rs third generation of mining. they understand the dangers. >> we just had pam napper on. she lost three members of her family. >> i was there last night. we had a memorial for all three, her son, josh, her nephew and her brother, timmy. and her mother and father,

charles and linda, were there. linda said to me, she said, joe, thank god i still have two of them that were safe. >> she had five people in the mines. governor, it is great to talk to you again. we know you will be briefing us again. >> we will do it every two hours. >> we will be back with moore o our continuing coverage. with sprint, for the same price, you get unlimited text, unlimited web and unlimited calling to every mobile phone in america. now, that's more like it. [ male announcer ] $69.99 for unlimited text, web and calling to any mobile in america. only from sprint. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. new details that some of toyota's own employees aren't happy about how the auto giant handled safety concerns with faulty gas pedals. one executive told his colleagues back in january we need to come clean in an e-mail. written five days before a huge recall and went on to say, the time to hide on this one is over. our deb feyerick is minding your business this morning. give us some context about this e-mail. what was this employee talking about? >> it shows what was going on inside toyota just about the time all of this was about to

break. it is becoming apparently clear that toyota executives were scrambling to figure out the best way to deal with their huge accelerator problems. one of the company's top public relations executives warned toyota that it needed to come clean about the sticking pedals. they were saying that toyota was not protecting our customers by keeping quiet about this. pretty serious language. in an e-mail about the recently retired vice president for public affairs, he writes, we may have a ten den sen for mechanical failure in accelerator pedals. he says, the time to hide is over. it was sent in january, days before toyota's massive recall. what's more, toyota had failed to alert u.s. regulators even though the automaker was busy dealing with this very same sticky pedestrian tall problem in 31 europe countries and canada.

they spoke about the disconnect last week at the inauguration of toyota's committee for global quality. >> because we are not perfect and we didn't share the experience we had in europe. we didn't know about it in north america. that's why we are putting these processes in places. we are looking for weak points, where we need to improve. that's why, i believe, these six points that toyoda is putting on us is going to make us a stronger and better company. we have never said we were perfect. >> clearly ar, a huge company making a lot of cars. the january e-mail hopeful that government regulators would work with toyota to fine what they were calling a workable solution

that does not put us out of business. they knew there was an issue. >> how it plays out. we talked about the fines and pending lawsuits. we will have to see. >> absolutely. >> we are going to be back at the scene in west virginia where the rescue effort is under way right now. they are trying to find the four miners still in the upper big branch mine. john roberts is on the scene. we are going to be checking in with him in just a moment. 29 minutes past the hour. in the taurus from ford. sfx: ((sync beep)) please say a command. read message. highway 8 closed. update route. turn right on silver road. the most innovative full- size sedan in america: the taurus, from ford. drive one.

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thursday, march 9th. i'm kiran chetry in new york. good morning. i'm john rob berlts in west virginia where search and rescue operations are back under way. four rescue teams of eight members a piece went down in ma mine a couple of miles into the mine now. they have to make their way about five miles in to try to find the location of the four missing miners, the ones unaccounted for. we spoke with the governor. he said it is going to be tough going. they are going to have to pass by the bodies of miners they know are already in the mine and will continue looking for the other four. the things they will be looking for, whether or not the rescue chambers were deployed. the governor says if they find they are all intact, not deployed, that that's going to be a very bad sign. we will have further updates for you throughout the morning. right now, let's go back to new york and here is kiran. >> thanks, john. as you talked about, they would have to have a miracle happen

today. this waiting game put mortgage strain on this community that's desperately trying to hold it together. join meeg is jeff, who comes from a family of miners. his own grandfather barely survived a mining accident. thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> it seems every time there is a tragedy at a mine, the nation focuses its attention once again on this profession. there is a sense among many that mining is just inherently a deadly job and that accidents like this are the nature of the beast. do you agree or do you think in this day and age, we shouldn't be talking about accidents like the one we saw at this mine? >> i think you are 100% correct. in this day and age, we should end this era of what we call regulated manslaughter. so many of these accidents, and they north accidents, they are disasters in waiting, happen

because we allow companies to operate in a continual state of violation. i think the people in coal river valley and coal fields across the nation, we mine coal in 24 states, are really getting fed up with the regulatory policy that allows these disasters to happen. >> you write that all of the regulations we have are written with the blood of the miners. after the deadly accident of sago, they wrote the miner act of 2006. that was supposed to be safer. why are we still talking about a mine four years later with hundreds of violations still up and running and another accident? >> exactly. it is time we have a reckoning with these regulations and we have to start holding the outlaws, the people who are flaunting the laws at the expense of the lives of american citizens and coal miners and bring them to justice and have some sort of accountability.

we have to get beyond the accountability that a crisis is never a crisis until we validate it with some sort of disaster. three coal miners still die daily from black lung disease, the inhale lation of coal dust. thousands dying needlessly because we are not enforcing the regulations. >> you talk about creating towns with monoeconomies. how do you help widen out opportunities in communities like this as we eventually will start to see the production of coal fall off over the next decade? >> exactly. we know for the first time in 25 years, we have had stockpiles of coal during the summer. we need to make the coal fields ground zero for my clean energy revolution. my cousins want to shift towards a clean energy future just like

their children and all american citizens. they want to have a work place that is safe and part of a clean energy future. we want to begin the hard discussion about how we work toward a coal free future. this sdnt accident is the tip o eyes berg. just above this mine in the same community where all the journalists are now, there is a huge billion dollar gallon comment. this is threatening the lives of the people below. the blasting is within a football field of this huge and weak and potentially dangerous empoundment. if this coal empoundment breaks and goes down to the same villagers who are working underground, over 1,000 people

will have less than 15 minutes to flee a 72-foot tidal wave of coal slurry. >> what is the solution? because, again shall as we talk about it, it seems that every time there is one of these disasters, what happened at sago and the crandall canyon, people say, changes have to happen. these mines have to be shut down if they are in violation. things like what you just described can't be allowed to exist as this looming threat over a community. days go by, months go by. years go by and we still see the same thing happening. >> exactly. therefore, we really have to have immediate action from the obama administration, immediate action from emsha. we have to make sure we are not only having four federal inspections per year, the same policy since 1969.

we have to provide the funds to make sure these mines are investigated and inspected six to eight times a year. most importantly, it i time we crack down on the outlaws in the coal industry and say we are fed up with this, that we have to have an energy policy that looks at the welfare of our wrk kers, t the welfare of our communities and recognize this crisis that happens daily within the coal fields. >> thanks so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. hope alls dies last in the coal field. our hearts and prayers are with the coal mining families and the four we are still hoping to rescue. >> we are going to have an update on that situation. we are going to take a quick break. it is 38 minutes past the hour. anncvo: with the new geico glovebox app...

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back now live in raleigh county west virginia where the rescue operation is going on to find the four miners that have not been located. the mining community is banning together around the family members of the known victims of the mine. you heard governor manchin talk about it a few minutes ago. there was a prayer service last night.

hundreds of people attended. extraordinary touching. we have been talking to pam napper who lost three members of her family, the strength she has in part for the love she feels. our ed lavandera is here with us this morning. you have been traveling up and down the coal river val sley talking to folks and getting a general sense of what people are going through. what did you find? >> reporter: i find a lot of people on edge waiting for this moment, the closure to find out exactly what has happened here. this area is unique to travel. we thought it would be a good idea to get people who aren't familiar with this idea a good perspective of what it is like here. state highway 3 takes you through the heart of this southern coal mining region in west virginia. signs of coal mining are everywhere. these conveyor belts bring the coal down the mountain, put on trucks and hauled out.

one resident described this forgotten stretch to me as no man's land. to donna harper, there is no place like it. we found her spending a quiet morning with her grandchildren. what's it like to live around here? >> well, to most people, it is slow. it is boring. if i had my choice to live anywhere in the world, right here would be it. >> reporter: that's why when 25 miners died in an explosion and four more are trapped, she says, this valley becomes family, even if it is remote in every way. the coal river winds its way through this mountain valley. as you drive up and down the banks of this river, it is where you will meet countless mining families. you will realize it is one of the few places in the country where you can't get cell phone service. >> no, no. we are country s we are country. it may be, it may be and maybe if we are lucky, we won't get it. >> reporter: what's it like around here when a tragedy like this happens?

>> we all try to be there for each other. you know, that's one reason i love this place so much is because everybody sticks together. >> reporter: can we keep walking with you. let's not lose momentum here. this is one of the poorest places in the country. cecile qua davis picks up aluminum cans along the highway for money. >> reporter: is it devastating for everybody? >> west virginians get devastated by this. >> reporter: coal miners are forced to face their greatest fear sns. >> anything could happen. >> reporter: do you worry about your loved ones and your friends going back to work in the mines? >> i don't want them in the mines. to be honest, i don't want them in the mines but without the mines, there would nobody us. >> reporter: john, that really gets to the heart of the dilemma here. you talk to people up and down this valley.

the relationship they have with these mountains and the coal mining industry is very complex. they love it in many ways, it provides a lively hood and they hate it in many ways. >> it is complex. you talk to any mother up and down the valley who has a son who comes to her and says, mom, i want to go to work in the mines. the first thing out of her mouth is, son, i beg you not to go down in the mines. >> reporter: there is very little, once you get off the main highway coming down from charleston, west virginia, there is not much around here. we drove for an hour before we got cell acceservice yesterd. in some ways, that might be a great thing. ed, thanks so much. more of our continuing coverage coming right up as well as the weather with rob marciano. stay with us.

rob, we wanted you to be here when we check out this new ad. tiger woods first commercial is getting reviews like, strange, maybe a little creepy. it features a recording of his late father talking about taking responsibility. take a look. >> tiger, i am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. i want to find out what your

thinking was i want to find out what your feelings are and did you learn anything? >> i got some chills, actually. that is a little bit creepy, kiran. >> it just reminds everybody. it seems he was trying to move past it, handle it at the press conference. this ad sort of brings you right back to, you know, the not-so-popular tiger woods. >> that's true. the people at nike are pretty smart people. i am sure they have a master game plan to move past this particular advertisement. tiger woods' father, very much a mentor and best friend. interesting. it's going to be shown on tv. i know it is on the web. it is going to be shown on tv as well?

>> it's been shown on tv right now. because everyone is talking about it this morning. give us a little weather update real quick. >> augusta is going to see some rainfall later today. our pollen level, near record highs across the southeast. some of those are going to be strong. they grg to be strong up and down this very big cold front. record high temperatures across parts of the northeast, 93, hartford, 92 central park, 91 augusta. boston, the earliest they have ever seen 90 degrees. 36 right now in chicago. so an over 30-degree difference between chicago and d.c. this is the change you are going to see across the northeast beginning tomorrow. even some snow from green bay getting down to madison, wisconsin, and walk washington. that's how cold it is after they saw record-breaking high temperatures the past few days. now, they are seeing snow. here is the line of thunderstorms. atlanta about to get it.

certainly, gusty winds and heavy rain. across the southeast, they should be brief, strong storms an heavy 50 past the hour. .

as a journalist, i've got an entirely different sense of the story, after heading out yet and talking to some pretty extraordinary people. pam napper was one of them. she's the woman who lost her son, her brother and her nephew in the mine.

and just going up and down this valley and talking to folks who have mining in their blood, mining in their families and how they cope with things. now, every time there's a disaster something happens, legislatively or rule-making wise to try to make things better. and yet, for all of the rules that people put in place, it keeps happening. 1951, the orient number 2 mine. 119 deaths prompted the first real legislation on mine safety. fast forward, 1968. farmington, west virginia, 78 dead, including future governor joe manchin's uncle. new laws tighten regulation, implement fines and criminal penalties. jump to 2006, the sago disaster. 12 killed. cries of never again prompt another new law, the miner act. >> you know, it's unfortunate that every mine safety law that we have on the books today has been written with the blood of our coal miners.

>> reporter: and what's most unfortunate, none of the laws on the books prevented what happened this week. the worst mining disaster in a quarter century. >> we're going to find answers. and you know what, if it takes legislation, i'll do it tomorrow, i'll guarantee you, the legislature in west virginia will step to the plate. not democrats or republicans like you see going 0 around the country. they'll do it in change. >> reporter: but, governor, if you pass that legislation, will it guarantee four years from now, there won't be another accident that's even worse than this. >> i don't think there's any guarantee. what we can do is make sure we take all of the variables out. >> reporter: up and down the coal river valley, there are prayers for the four men still missing in the upper big branch mine. and there's plenty of anger, too. does it frustrate you, regardless of number of lives that are lost, the number of rules that are written, the number of laws that happen, that it keeps happening. >> honestly, it pisss me off.

>> reporter: his legs are crushed in an accident. he's been disabled for 40 years. >> the only thing different from the time my dad was crushed to now. when my dad was in the mine, he had fence posts that held up the mines. i mean, we've got high-tech dollar stuff now. but still, it's not safe. >> reporter: not safe. an anxiety shared by so many in this state. ida williams and tammy gordon have been coal mining wives for years. now, they're coal mining mothers. >> there's always that worry. and especially when my son wanted to go in the mines i begged him not to. i didn't want him to. >> reporter: why not? >> i was just afraid. i knew i had to worry over my husband. it's a different kind of worry. >> reporter: they both know with a small twist of fate, they could be the wives an mothers suffering so much grief. and they are willing to accept that.

>> this doesn't only happen to the coal mining industry. there's a risk on your job. there's risks everywhere. and our families are willing to take the risk. >> reporter: they have faith that every law spun out of these disasters will help to make their loved ones safer. but as history as proven, the best of intentions are never 100%. >> i just think that it's never going to perfect, so there's always going to be something you have to expect that may happen. >> reporter: and again, like ed lavandera was telling us just a couple minutes ago, it's that complex relationship that people have with the coal industry here in coal country. they fear it. they love it. they don't want their sons to go into it. but they need it. top stories coming your way in the most news in the morning. stay with us. my subaru saved my life.

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good morning to you. thanks for being with us on this "american morning" on this thursday, it's april 8th. i'm kiran chetry in new york. john roberts is in new york. first, it wasn't a terrorist incident, but a midair

misunderstanding. that's what authorities are saying after a diplomat from cutter won't face any charges after sneaking a cigarette on board a flight. homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve is following developments for us. a significant step towards president obama's dream of disarmament. he and his counterpart signed a nuclear deal. it slashes the amount of nuclear weapons by about a third. in a moment, we'll be live in prague. also, rescue teams are working their way down the upper big branch mine in montcoal, west virginia. they're hoping to find four missing miners. 25 were killed in monday's explosion. rescue crews were not able to head down until 4:55 a.m. eastern time, once it was determined that the deadly gases were sufficiently ventilated from that mine. we head to john roberts who is live for us from the upper big branch coal mine in raleigh,

west virginia, this morning. hey, john. >> reporter: good morning, kiran, and we expect to get an update in about a half an hour from governor joe manchin from the progress that they're making deep underground. i got to tell you, i met a pretty extraordinary person yesterday. her name is pam napper, she is of the mother, the aunt and the sister of miners who were killed in monday's tragic accident. three members of our family were lost. and, boy, does she have a tale to tell about the whole thing. a couple things happened to her son the week before the mine accident when he was sent home early because of bad ventilation in the mine. wasn't sure what was going on, but he did know that it worried him. and he also had something of a premonition about what might lie ahead on easter sunday when he went to visit his mom in ohio. we'll talk to pam about that. but, first, we ask pam about her tre trepidation about having her son in the mine.

what were your feelings when he said, mom, i want to be a miner. >> honestly, at first, i said no. i didn't want him to come. my brothers have been hurt several times in the mines. i begged him not to. he said, please, mom. i said, that's okay. you're 25, i have to let you go. i have to let you make your own decisions in life. so i gave my brother my blessing. my brother had to have blessings from me first before he would hire him. i gave him my blessings. he came home that weekend. >> reporter: at easter? >> at easter. he wanted to come home, be with his family. and he went to church with us. he kind of fought things in church. he actually got up and left church and came back in. and they called, wanted us to bow our heads, whoever needed jesus in their life, raise their arms, and he did. for some reason, they called an

altar call which they don't do that on the days. and josh just jumped out of there and went and got saved. and really, really got saved. he grabbed my hand, and he says, mom, i love you. i said, i love you too, josh. i'll always love you. and i told him don't let loose of god. he said, oh, mom, i'm not. i'm going to hold on to god. and when he went home, he left jennifer a letter. >> reporter: jennifer? >> his girlfriend. and jenna. >> reporter: that's his daughter? >> uh-huh. i can't tell you everything in it. it was his lone writing in his handwriting. he said, if anything happens to me i'll be looking down at hedge at you all. i love you, take care of my baby. tell her that daddy loves her. she's beautiful. she's funny.

and just take care of my baby girl. and said, jennifer, i love you. >> reporter: did he have a sense about things? >> i really feel that he did. >> it's just amazing that the day before the mine accident he would write a letter like that and do what he did at church. you might wonder how she copes with the loss of three family members, her son josh, her nephew corey, her brother timmy. she has a very, very strong faith, kiran, which gets her through it. last night, there was a prayer vigil near her son's home, where she has a lot of friends. just about an hour away from here. and hundreds of people who showed up and just showed her so much love she said really helped to ease the pain. but you wonder how anything could ever ease the amount of pain that not only she and other people in this valley are feeling today. >> it's unimaginable for most of

us just of the fact that she's able to talk to you about it so elegantly and put her words to it the way she did. she's certainly a strong woman. and hopefully, she will get the support she needs over the coming weeks after this tragedy and beyond. john, we're going to check in with you again. we're going to other top stories. a glow mat from qatar, a lot of explaining to do on board a united airlines flight. flight 663 was headed from washington, d.c. to denver last night where authorities say after throwing away a cigarette in the lavatory, this diplomat made what one official called an unfortunate remark about setting fire to his shoes. jeanne meserve joins us on the phone from denver international airport. jeanne, do we know more about who this person is this morning? >> we have name his name is mohammed al madada, he's a diplomat in washington. he's still in custody of law enforcement as they decide whether or not to bring any

charges against him. he was a first class passenger on this flight which was on route from reagan national to denver. and passengers tell us that he got up and went back and forth to the restrooms several times. at one junk tocture and he went and stayed for white ed foed fo. and one time, he smelled smoke. that's when we're told he made the unfortunate remark that related to his shoes. that they might be dealing with another richard reed, another shoe bomber. two f-16s were scrambled to denver. it was then whisked to a secure area of the airports as officials dealt with the situation. the passengers on board have high praise for the crew and air marshal. here's how they described what happened on the flight. >> there was no steven segal

b.d. these guys talked to him. he was very compliant. at the end, one of the air marshals was explaining what was going to happen next. then the denver p.d. came on. they cuffed him. >> no explosives were found on that aircraft. it took four or five hour, though, to clear all the passengers. authorities want to question all of them. president obama was briefed on the situation last evening, as if this was unfolding. and the secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano, the latest trip to spain this morning in order to get more briefings. back to you. >> and, jeanne, any reaction out of qatar this morning? >> yes, the ambassador from qatar did issue a statement. he said, we expect the necessity

of special security precautions relating to travel, but this glow mat was traveling to denver on official embassy business on my instructions and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity. and the fact will reveal that this was a mistake. well, president obama has sealed the deal a year after pledging the deal with nuclear weapons. the president and his counterpart signing a new arms treaty that calls for both nations to reduce their nuclear arms by a third. ed henry is traveling with the president. you are there this morning as we watch that signing ceremony live. what's happening now? >> good morning, kiran, basically, president obama going behind closed doors with his russian counterpart. he has a series of more meetings today. the focus on this new s.t.a.r.t. treaty, you mentioned the president was here a week ago in prague, playing out his vision for it.

that in part helped him win the nobel peace prize. a lot of critics at the time suggesting he didn't deserve it. this step forward, the white house shows clearly, it's a big victory for the president. one of the senior advisories telling me it only happened because of his direct personal involvement. five one-on-one meetings with the russian president to seal this deal. specifically, what it will do is basically reduce the number of warheads on each side from about 2,200 to 1,500. also, the launchers reduced from 1,6 to to 800 on both sides. the president suggests that this was a step forward and also said that that we trying to iron other our divisive issues here in the czech republic. >> what i made clear was that our missile defense systems were

not directed at changing the strategic balance between the united states and russia, but were, instead, directed at protecting the american people from potentially new attacks from missiles launched from third countries. we recognize, however, that russia has a significant interest in this issue. and what we've committed to doing is engaging in a significant discussion. >> when you read between the lines of what the president was referring, how he believes a missile defense shield would be a defensive mechanism for the u.s. to defend against attacks from iran, significant in this broader conversation, because the u.s. is now hoping that with these warm relations with russia, they will now get russia behind tough u.n. sanctions against iran's nuclear ambitions. that's the big thing to watch

moving forward, kiran. >> we will be watching. ed henry ahead for us. still ahead, the government apologizing for forgetting to mention that slavery led to the civil war during that proclamation. 11 minutes past the hour. isn't ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge with comfort suites. spacious rooms, free hi-speed internet, and free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. now stay two separate times with comfort suites... or any choice hotel and earn a free night. book at choicehotels.com.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 14 minutes past the hour right now. the two leading ladies of tea party movement teaming up to bash the democrats, as well as president obama. sarah palin shared with sarah bachman, both telling people to send people to washington. well, there's new anger with governor bob mcdonald this morning. he's declared april federal history month, but in his initial remarks, he didn't mention slavery. the governor has since apologized but that doesn't stop some of the controversy. our kate bolduan is tracking it live. good morning, governor proclamation aren't typically controversial, but aren't even noticed. but this is for something he didn't include.

>> reporter: virginia, known for its civil war battlefields, its capital, richmond, was the capital of the confederacy. virginia republican governor bob mcdonald has declared april confederate history month, to understand the sacrifices of the confederate leaders, soldier and citizens. >> i thought that people having to look at the mistakes of history, but understanding virginia's role in the battlefields, et cetera would be helpful for economic development. that's why i signed up. >> reporter: but the governor is now apologizing for what he calls a major omission, failing to make any mention of slavery and it's amending the proclamation to include. civil rights leaders had accused the governor of trying to, quote, whitewash, history. >> not taking a second to even acknowledge that the civil war,

the main reason for that fire that burned across this country was the south's refusal to let go of slavery which is a deep and abiding crime against humanity. does suggest that he lacks surge. >> reporter: for better or worse, virginia is steeped in confederate history. monuments like this one can be found throughout the state. governor mcdonald in the proclamation suggested that the move was meant to boost tourism ahead of next year's 150th anniversary of the start of the civil war. the governor suggests he issued the proclamation at the request of a group sons of confederate veterans. >> what governor mcdonald is trying to help do is help to educate people. and the people who are complaining refuse to look at anything. they're one-sided. they're the people that need confederate history education more than anybody. >> reporter: earlier, mcdonald gave this explanation for leaving slavery out. >> slavery was an absolute

abottom nation on this nation. which is vile and has wiped off the face of this country. i didn't mention it solely because i was trying to keep the focus on the war aspects of it. >> now, governor mcdonald says he's now adding language to the proclamation to include, it's saying, quote, it is important for all virigians to understand that the institution of slavery led to the civil war and was an evil and inhumane practice, kiran. >> kate, thanks so much. we got a lot of people weighing in. one writes, the governor lacks the basic understanding of the civil war. confederate flag is a sign of treason. every time i see one displayed on a car, i'm greatly offended. another writes, are you going to force him out of office for this? day two, are you going to outlaw

jesse jackson? i equate this to the nazi celebrating the holocaust. what kind of tourism were they trying to gain? there's reaction to this story. we invite to you join the conversation at cnn.com/am fix. we'll read your comments throughout the morning. meantime, coming up, it's tax season, filing deadline april 15th but half of households in the u.s. pay no federal income tax. who and how, christine romans with new exemptions that you may also be eligible for. coming up, 18 minutes past the hour.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 21 minutes past the hour right now. even if you've never watched one hole of golf in your life, you may find yourself taking a peak today. it's tiger woods return to the course. not just any course. it's the masters where he's a four-time champion. tiger is expected to tee off at 1:40 this afternoon, for the first time since the sex scandal that sent him first into hiding and then rehab. meanwhile, oprah may have a weekly show. the talk show plans to change it up by interviewing guest it's around the world. right now, it's 21 minutes past the hour. christine romans is here, she's "minding your business" this morning. we're talking taxes. >> a surprising number that as a lot of you preparing for your taxes might not know. a fascinating number.

47% of earners pay no federal income tax at all. think of that, half of people who are working in this country will pay no federal income taxes. most of them still have to file, of course. there are all kinds of tax credits that they're trying to get. low income tax credits. deductions. you've got thinking like the middle class tax cut. you've got earned income credit. you've got credits for kids, you've got lots of deductions. what that means a family of two adults and two children with an income of $50,000 a year could very easily pay no federal income tax. of course, the income tax is how the government uses as the main source of revenue. this is how we pay for our country, things like defense, roads, education. conservatives say, look, these numbers, for the past three or four years, conservatives have been saying some people are not pulling their fair share. the tax code is a way that the government tries to enforce

their priorities. we're seeing a lot of different things happening here, include rege baits for energy efficient windows, for cars. for homes. who pays the federal income tax then, if 47% of people are not going to pay federal income tax. 10% of earners pay 73% of all income. that's mostly families making $366,000 or more. the bottom 40% actually get a refund. they file their return, they put in all the tax credits and deductions. at the end, the money from that 10% to 73% is then sent a check from the government to the 40% of people who are getting something back. so an interesting, pafascinatin look little at how the whole tax system works. you still have to file a tax return. this doesn't mean you don't file a tax return. these aren't tax cheats. these are people who are legally not obligated to pay taxes.

they pay social security taxes, local taxes, retail taxes, excise taxes. they are paying for taxes that way. but this is federal income tax we're talking about. >> there you go. >> interesting, right? >> very interesting. >> christine, thanks. what does the future hold for the economy? right now, we're drowning in debt as we know? how can we change course. cnn's taking an independent look at issues and weigh the answers. coin us a two-hour special, christine is hosting it, too, "io usa." this sunday. still ahead, three more girls could be arraigned in the massachusetts bullying case. we're talking to a family pressure of phoebe prince coming up.

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27 minutes past the hour right now. a look at the top stories this

morning. president obama is in prague. a look this morning, we brought you the live signing ceremony. he and russian president dmitry medvedev calling for an articles treaty to reduce nuclear warheads by a third. the treaty has to be approveed. no terrorist. just a misunderstanding, mohammed al madadi, he tried to sneak a cigarette in the lavatory, and made a remark about setting his shoes on fire which sparked a bomb scare. the ambassador said al madadi poses no risk and it's a mistake. rescuers are down in the mine for 3 1/2 hours now. they're hoping to find four missing miners 1,000 feet down. should admitting the chances are slim. 25 miners were killed in the monday explosion.

they were not allowed to head down until once it was determined that the deadly gases were evacuated from the mine. now, to john roberts who joins us from the big branch mine in raleigh, west virginia. hey, john. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. we're expecting governor joe manchin to arrive any moment now for this 8:30 briefing. they've been doing the briefings every couple hours now as the rescue has kicked into high gear. just before 5:00, four rescue teams, a total of 32 people, went down in that mine, they probably now having been there for 3 1/2 hours are very close to the area, along what's called the longwall mining section, where they believe that one miner was located. there were a number of miners who were working that area. we know that there were nine. they only found the bodies of eight. so there's one missing. they believe that person is in that longwall section. and there's another what's called development section where they go in and they cut the rest to be able to start longwall mining again.

and there were three people who were over there. that area is as many as -- to get to the very end of it, 2,000 feet from the longwall section, so it may take them some time to get back in there. some of the things they'll be looking for. tragically, they're going past, again, the bodies of some of the 14 miners who have been located so far. and still remain in the mine, as they make their way deeper into the mine. one of the first things they'll be looking for, to see if any of the called refuge chambers have been deployed. it's like a raft, if you will, sitting about three feet high. it's got enough water and food to last a number of miners for four days. if they didn't see one of those deployed immediately, then it reduces the chances that anybody will be left alive. also, the governor was telling us a little while ago, when they get into that area, if they find that it's too dangerous because of concentrations of toxic gases like methane and carbon dioxide

to go any further, they'll put up a screen and start to recover some of the bodies, the 14 bodies that are in there. they're very concerned, the families are worried about the fate of their loved ones. i talked to pam napper, the mother who lost her son joshua and her nephew corey and her brother timmy. she said, all i want to do is be able to hold him one more time. they're very anxious to get receipt mains of their loved ones out. it looks like the governor is not here yet. probably some developments in the mine. kiran, the nesecond he shows up we'll let you know. in the meantime, the case of the bullying situation that took place in massachusetts. three more girls to be arraigned today. we're also talking to a family pressure of the late phoebe prince. [ female announcer ] any hair shines in the spotlight.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. three more massachusetts teens will be arraigned today on charges related to the bullying death of phoebe prince. three others pleaded not guilty on tuesday. and this community has been consumed by controversy after since details about the suicide came to light. joining me now from massachusetts is luke whose son sat next no phoebe. thanks for being with me, luke. >> thanks. >> first, how are they holding up in the loss of their daughter and charges against some of her classmates? >> i've had limited contact with

the family. their spokesman, darby o'briant has been keeping people updated. i can't even imagine how they're feeling. this has turned into some kind of macabre circus and it never had to be this way. these administrators had control of the situation beforehand, and they chose not to act. they're choose naught to act now. they're serving their own selfish interests, and we would like them do the respectable thing and step aside. >> so, let's get back to, first of all, what they could have done. south hadley superintendent gus sager who has spoken to our alina cho as well as others, say school officials only heard of the bullying a week before phoebe's death. that the principal does not take the matters lightly and he would have act twistly if he knew about the events. is he lying?

>> there's preposterous. we had information from students and teachers that this has been going on for months. the d.a. statement was quite clear. her message came out, it said straightforward that this had been known right from the beginning. then they turned around and started taking shots at the district attorney and hard-working police officers who worked tirelessly on a very d difficult case. all they had to do is confront the media, be foreright with the information that they're still not forthright with, and none of this would have occurred. >> you said parents did have their own complaints. your own son was bullied. did you bring concerns and complaints to the school? and how was it handled? >> this problem, kieran, in our town and many other towns, has been going on for quite

sometime. i don't think you will talk to any parent that have been had some experience with it that their complaints were largely placated and dismissed. 50 to some 75 parents lined up discussed that their concerns had been placated and dismissed. that was met with sneers, rolling eyes, chuckles, whispering in the ears and that's what started to escalate this. >> so when you told them that your son was being bullied, how did they react? >> well, again, it's always been handled -- we have a 21st century problem that's being dealt with a 19th century mind-set. the old mind-set that bullrying needs to be mediated. we want to bring the kidding together. as barbara colaroso said over

and over again it needs to be stopped. in the case of phoebe prince, is this not bullying, this is absolutely torment. it's torture. when you led a child go the extra inch. from the extra mile, they'll go further and further. as a parent, just as an example, if i give my kids a curfew for 11:00 at night. and they come home at 11:15, the next night, 12:00, then 1:00 and 2:00. i'll be getting a call from the police. that's not any fault but mine. those administrators are the parents when the children are at the school. they knew it was going on. they did nothing to stop it. so these kids that are on trial now, they were allowed to this this, and they kept going further and further. >> these kids on trial now, are they guilty of this? should they be facing the charges that they're facing? >> of course. they did a horrible, horrible bad thing and justice needs to be served. but that's up to the courts. now, all i'm saying, it was

preventible. >> you're putting a lot of blame in the lap of the administration. what about the parents? do that they have any idea about what's going jon did they talk to the kids about what's going on? >> i can only speak to a couple families that i've had the privilege over the years of meeting and knowing. knew if those parents got a phone call when they were supposed to, way back in november, this would not have happened with their kids. they would have done something tab. but they did not get that phone call. and it was allowed to escalate and continue and get further and further down the line. >> so you think that if the parents would have known about this, phoebe prince would still be alive today? >> all i can -- like i said, i can only speak for maybe a couple of the families that i've known. i don't know these other families. i don't know what goes on in their houses. all i know that we all, america, island in the world, we need to be examples to our kids. and what we're around the dinner table, we have to be careful

what we're saying about other people's children and other people. we have to be an example. >> luke gelinas this morning, family friend of phoebe prince's family. thanks for being with us and sharing your point of view. >> thank you. 40 minutes past the hour, rob marciano is on the way with storms on the way. first, record highs, now, snow in some parts of the country. rain. rob's going to update us. [ female announcer ] last year, the u.s. used enough plastic water bottles to stretch around the earth over 190 times. each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles out of the equation.

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♪ halfway down on my way on a feeling feeling ♪ welcome back to most news in the morning. a shot in new york city, columbus circle where it's partly cloudy, 69 degrees right now. a little bit later, it's going to be 80 with some storms tonight so that would be a 12-degree drop from yesterday's high. a lot of changes and warmth giving way to, i guess, storms. rob marciano tracking all of it for us. you can't have fluctuations and not have troublings right? >> exactly, you didn't have a 90-degree day and knowing some changes are on the way for sure. they're going to start with thunderstorms that could be strong or severe later on today, but find this front is certainly cooler air. this is the time of year that air mass collide with parts of hartford, connecticut. that was a record yet. 92 in the heart of the big apple. 91 degrees in dulles, and 91 as

well in augusta georgia. look at the change in temperatures between d.c., 70, chicago, 36. that gives you an idea of the huge change on the way. so much change that snow developing from madison, wisconsin, on wait. those folks well on the way, just a few days ago. thunderstorms kind of strong here, moving across north georgia. some of these could contain 30 or 40-mile-an-hour wind gusts. maybe hail in spots. generally speaking, this is a big cooldown, and it knocked down some of the near record-breaking pollen. that will be relieving for sure. strong winds and heavy winds in the delmarva, later on this afternoon and tonight. as temperatures rise to about 80 degrees. that's where the change will come, high of 86, in d.c., 41 degrees for the high temperature in chicago. they, too, were in the 70s and 80s just a day or two ago. love this time of year, kiran,

enjoy. back up to you. >> a little unpredictable, but pleasant. we can't complain over the past couple days. thanks, rob. >> we're going to bring you an update from a news conference in west virginia at 8:30 eastern time. there's a live look. they've actually moved it back to 9:45 eastern time. here's a quick update. the rescue teams have been working up and down the big branch mine for 3 1/2 hours. they're hoping to find the four miners still missing and possibly trapped 1,000 feet down right now. they have 25 workers who have been killed. they have 33 rescue workers on their way down here. it was about 5:00 this morning that they got the okay to head in there after the deadly gases were pumped out of the mine. again, that news conference moved back to 9:45 a.m. eastern time. meantime, we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, a new test may be able to predict whether or not a smoker will get lung dancer.

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♪ according to him i'm beautiful incredible ♪ 49 minutes past the hour, it's time for your a.m. house call. stories about your health this morning. the food and drug administration wants to be clear that the popular felt-melting lipoinjunctions have not proven effective. they've sent letters out to half a dozen spas to tell them they're no longer marketing injectio injections. a research published in the journal of science shows that a test measures a specific genetic change inside the wind pipe that not only helps identify smokers who need monitoring, but scientists believe it could lead to reversing the disease's

progress before it becomes full blown. lung cancer killed more than 160,000 americans last year alone. new york city has been a melting pot, now, one very big city proves that language doesn't have to be a barrier. and stunning results. >> absolutely. new york city, all people speak a range of language, urdu, russian, the list goes on. if your kid has to speak one of those languages and has to go toe school, it be a struggle. we're going to introduce you to a school where the students struggle with language. but their teachers say foreign language is a plus. take a look. little duki barely spoke any english when he arrived from mexico three years ago. and college in the united states seemed like a far off impossible dream.

alfredo attends newcomers public high school in new york city, where 1,000 recently arrived immigrant students come from over 40 countries and enter with little to no english. [ speaking foreign language ] >> how have the last three years been, if you could describe them? chaotic, fun, overwhelming? >> yeah, at the beginning it was like overwhelming. it was so hard to adapt to the culture. to everything. to the food. everything, the system. the school system. >> reporter: but al grafredo add as most of the others while new york city has a percentage of 45 for english learners, comers graduates 90% of its sears and nearly all of them go to college. how are you successful? because i think for a lot of people to be poor, immigrant, to

be an english languor learner for a student is three strikes against. >> we can look at it that way, but we can also see that there's plenty of opportunity. being proficient in two languages is not just a plus, i think it's that it's a key to success. most people are not bilingual. >> reporter: you always see the glass as half full, never half empty. the glass half full because the school picks teachers who mix in extra language help. and the kids are encouraged to get involved. really involved. alfredo juggles student government, volleyball and seven classes. his average, a solid "a." he's even learning to play the sax. ♪ getting students to juggle lots of responsibility is blanca izaguirre's job.

she's a college counselor at newcomers. >> we integrate them by athletics. >> reporter: it helps them build profiles that college looks for. alfredo won a scholarship that will send him all the way to wisconsin to lawrence university. three years ago, you came to the country, you didn't speak any english. now, you're the winner of a scholarship that will pay every dime of your tuition. that's pretty remarkable. does it feel remarkable? >> yeah, it is, indeed. i'm like, eye i'm a posse schooler. out of the newcomers phrase of the school, we can get it. we can show everybody else that we're able do anything we want, just work hard. ♪ >> half the students from newcomers come from latin america. a quarter come from china and approximately the rest come from

southeast asia or africa or eastern europe. >> what a wonderful story for alfredo. >> a big range. >> and to know he's getting his college paid for. what about other students that are academically achieving but won't get scholarships? >> many students are getting scholarships. traditionally, they do what they do, which is borrow money, or borrow it from your parents or relatives. >> and every time we see one of these schools that really seems to shine, a lot of people ask why can't they do that elsewhere? are there other schools like newcomers? >> they do. you see schools pop up like that. often, they have programs. the kids come in, they work on their english language skills and they send them off. they transition to other schools. newcomers is different. they let them stay. it's a full of immigrants. still ahead, we're going to check in with john roberts where rescue teams are entering that

mine, they're try for the slimmest of hope. they will find the four missing miners alive. the special coverage continues next. [ crowd cheering ]

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story this morning. the latest developments in the mine disaster here in west virginia. we're now just about 66 hours from the time that the explosion went off. and rescue workers are back down in the mine. they've been there since about 5:00 this morning. made their way in closer and closer to the area where those four missing miners are believed to be. we understand that they're making pretty good progress, at a press conference that the governor had scheduled for a half hour ago has been postponed. that will now take place, a little more than 45 minutes from now. maybe a suggestion that they have something to tell us. that's only kind of reading the tea leaves, though. we talked a lot about violations that this mine has filed against it over the years. and we learned something new from talking with pam napper whose son joshua was killed in the mine, along with joshua's courage, wells pam's brother timmy. we learned a couple times, in the week previous to the explosion, he would stay at home

because of bad ventilation in the mine. we don't know what the bad ventilation referred to. whether it was a buildup of toxic acid or something else. he was sent home a couple times, according to his mother, because of bad ventilation. as the governor of west virginia, joe manchin, prepares to talk to us with information. he's sending out a plea to all miners in the state that if they're working in a mine where they think things are not being attended to properly from a safety perspective, please come forward. don't be afraid to speak up. after a tragedy like this, there's legislation, new rules, new legislation put in place. but there's attendant fear among many miners, if they step up and say something that that might impact them negatively in terms of their employment. the governor of the state is saying come forward, they'll do everything they can to protect you, but they want to have that information. we're going to stay on it